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GySgt David R. Marcussen
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Marine Col Jefferson J Deblanc.
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Contact Info
Last Address Lockport
Date of Passing Dec 06, 2007
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Last Known Activity:
After service with VMF-112, served with VMF-422 in Central Pacific and Okinawa campaigns. Following active duty served in the Marine Corps Reserves (1946-1972) attaining the grade of Colonel. Served as CO for MARTG-18 at NAS New Orleans. Principle post-war career involved education, serving as a secondary school physics, electronics and math teacher. Instructed in the Department of Defense (DoD) International Schools system in Brunsum, Holland (1974-1979). Continues education activity with Saint Martinville, LA school system. Military service awards include: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. Active in community affairs with many organizations.
Other Comments:
NY Times December 6, 2007 Jefferson DeBlanc, Hero Pilot, Dies at 86 By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN Jefferson J. DeBlanc, a World War II fighter pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down five Japanese planes on a single day while running out of fuel, died Nov. 22 in Lafayette, La. He was 86 and lived St. Martinville, La..
The cause was complications of pneumonia, said his daughter, Barbara DeBlanc Romero.
On Jan. 31, 1943, Mr. DeBlanc, then a lieutenant in the Marines, took off from Guadalcanal in his Wildcat fighter, leading a six-plane section of Marine Fighting Squadron 112. They were assigned to protect dive bombers and torpedo planes attacking Japanese ships off the island of Kolombangara, in the Solomons chain.
Mr. DeBlanc became embroiled in a furious air battle as Japanese planes pounced on the American aircraft. His fighter was using fuel at an unexpectedly rapid rate and he could have returned to his base, but he pressed his attacks.
"We needed all the guns we could get up there to escort those dive bombers," he told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans in a 1999 interview. "I figured if I run out of gas, I run out of gas. I figured I could survive a bailout. You've got to live with your conscience. And my conscience told me to go ahead."
In the span of a few minutes, he shot down five Japanese planes, but soon afterward his fighter was hit by enemy aircraft fire that knocked his watch from his wrist, peppered him with shrapnel and set his plane afire.
He parachuted into the ocean, then swam for some six hours, making it ashore at Japanese-occupied Kolombangara. He hoped to steal a Japanese Zero fighter and fly it to Guadalcanal, but after resting for several days in an abandoned hut, he was seized by a group of tribesmen who poked at his sunburned skin, fascinated at how it turned white when prodded by their sticks.
"I could see myself in the pot," he recalled long afterward.
He was placed in a bamboo cage and heard the beating of drums, seemingly the transmission of messages to tribal elders seeking word on how to deal with him.
The next day, deliverance arrived. Another tribesman was carrying a gift for his captors.
"This guy came in and threw down a 10-pound sack of rice, which he stole from the Japanese," Mr. DeBlanc remembered in a 2000 interview with The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La. "He threw it down at their feet, and they picked it up and let me go. From then on, I felt safe."
His rescuer was affiliated with the coast watchers, mainly Australians and Pacific islanders who spied on Japanese plane and ship movements in the Solomons and helped rescue downed Allied pilots. Mr. DeBlanc was taken to a nearby island by islanders who were sympathetic to the Americans, and a United States Navy patrol plane picked him up.
Mr. DeBlanc, who had shot down three Japanese bombers off Guadalcanal the previous fall, later downed another Japanese plane off Okinawa, giving him nine "kills" in the war.
President Harry S. Truman presented him with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, on Dec. 6, 1946. Recounting Mr. DeBlanc's exploits off Kolombangara, the citation said that he had "remained on the scene despite a rapidly diminishing fuel supply" and had waged "a valiant battle against terrific odds."
Mr. DeBlanc, a native of Lockport, La., left active military service after the war, received a doctorate in education from McNeese State University and taught mathematics and science in St. Martinville. He retired from the Marines in 1972 as a colonel in the Reserves.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his sons, Jefferson Jr., of Church Point, La.; Richard, of Coteau Holmes, La.; Frank, of St. Martinville; and Michael, of Parks, La.; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. His wife, Louise, died in 2005.
Examining diaries left behind by coast watchers, Mr. DeBlanc eventually learned the identity of the man who had saved him. He returned to the Solomons in May 2000 to thank the rescuer, Atitao Lodukolo. Mr. Lodukolo was a frail 95 years old by then, getting around with the aid of a walking stick.
Mr. DeBlanc and Mr. Lodukolo posed together for a video camera, and then they exchanged salutes in a final farewell.
"How about that?" Mr. DeBlanc remarked later. "That's full circle."
New Georgia Group Operation /Battle of Kolombangara
From Month/Year
July / 1943
To Month/Year
July / 1943
Description The Battle of Kolombangara ( known as the Second Battle of Kula Gulf) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands.
Battle
At 01:00 on 13 July, the Allied ships established radar contact about 20 mi (17 nmi; 32 km) east of the northern tip of Kolombangara. Ainsworth assumed he had complete surprise, but the Japanese had been aware of the Allied force for almost two hours. The destroyers increased speed to engage the Japanese force while the cruisers turned to deploy their main batteries, but the Imperial destroyers had already launched Long Lance torpedoes and turned away. Jintsu engaged the Allied ships, but all Allied fire was concentrated on the largest ship. Jintsu was reduced to a wreck while Leander was struck by a torpedo and, severely damaged, retired from the battle escorted by Radford and Jenkins. Jintsu was finally broken in two by torpedo hits and sank at about 01:45, with the loss of nearly her entire crew, including Vice Admiral Izaki.
Ainsworth pursued the Imperial destroyers, but both St. Louis and Honolulu were struck by torpedoes and damaged, while Gwin was struck amidships and scuttled at 09:30 the next morning.
Aftermath
Honolulu and St. Louis were out of action for several months, while Leander was under repair for a year and never returned to action during World War II.
Except for Jintsu, the Japanese force escaped damage, and the transport destroyers successfully landed 1,200 men at Vila. The Emperor's men had won a tactical victory, but of the action the naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote: "A string of such victories added up to defeat."
Though at a severe cost, Ainsworth also accomplished his mission of preventing an attack on the Marines, and combined with the earlier Battle of Kula Gulf, successfully deterred the Japanese from future use of Kula Gulf in reinforcing Munda. After the Battle of Kolombangara, the Japanese chose to use Vella Gulf, Blackett Strait, and the more constricted passage at Wana Wana, resulting in a series of nightly attacks by U.S. destroyers and PT boats against their reinforcement efforts.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
July / 1943
To Month/Year
July / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On 31 January 1943, he was flying over enemy-held Kolombangara Island in the Solomons as a section leader of six fighter planes of Marine Fighting Squadron 112. Their mission was to escort a strike force of dive bombers and torpedo planes out to attack Japanese surface vessels.
Leading his section directly to the target area, 1stLt DeBlanc and the strike force encountered a large number of Japanese Zeros, the premier Japanese fighter aircraft of World War II, protecting the enemy's surface craft. Immediately engaging the Zeros at 14,000 feet, he aggressively countered their repeated attempts to drive off the Marine bombers and waged fierce combat until he received a call for assistance from the dive bombers which were under attack at 1,000 feet.
Diving to that altitude, he plunged into the formation of enemy float planes and practically single-handedly disrupted their attack, thus enabling the Marine dive bombers to complete their runs on the enemy ships and to escape. His escort mission thus completed, 1stLt DeBlanc nevertheless remained on the scene, despite his rapidly diminishing fuel supply, and challenged the superior number of float planes.
His aggressiveness against these tremendous odds paid off as he destroyed three of the enemy planes and dispersed the remainder. Preparing to maneuver his damaged plane back to Guadalcanal, the lieutenant had climbed aloft and set his course before he noticed two more Zeros closing in upon him from behind. In a short, bitterly-fought contest, 1stLt DeBlanc sent two more Japanese planes crashing into the sea. However, his own plane was so badly damaged in the encounter that the new Marine ace was forced to bail out at a perilously low altitude atop the trees of Japanese-held Kolombangara.
Landing in the sea, 1stLt DeBlanc discovered that he was badly wounded in the back, arms and legs, and that he was a long way from shore. Supported only by his life jacket, he headed for the beach. After six hours in the water he crawled up on the enemy beach, and for more than two days subsisted on coconuts while his wounds went unattended. He was found by a party of friendly natives who hid him and cared for him. The coast-watcher in that locality was notified and immediately attempted to contact the Allied authorities by clandestine radio. After 15 days on Kolombangara, one of the Navy PBY's (a type of seaplane) landed in the surf off the island and the natives paddled 1stLt DeBlanc out to it in a canoe. He was flown back to his base and to the hospital.
